Although the real Clans are long gone, the loco compares well with photographs of the real locos. The paint finish is a good rendition of BR brunswick green, that improves even more with a bit of weathering. Numbers and decals are all well rendered.

Detail

The loco (like many other recent Hornby offerings) is exquisitely detailed, with a whole raft of pipes and brackets that appear to have been separately fitted at the factory. However, many of these parts are so delicate that I’m scared that I’m going to break them off.

Performance

The loco is comfortably the best performing steam loco that I’ve come across. With pickups on 10 wheels there are no problems across insulfrog points, and the loco starts and stops so smoothly you wouldn’t guess this was a OO gauge model.

Maintenance

There have been no maintenance issues so far, and it appears easy to fit a DCC decoder due to the tender having an 8-pin socket in it. Much easier than opening the loco up!

Comments

This really is a fine model steam loco, with top-quality performance to match the detailed bodyshell. The only issue I’ve come across is the wire and plug for the tender, which like the fine detail can seem a big fragile, but once this is attached there are no problems at all. Using a pair of pliers can help with the connecting and loosening of this connection.